Elder Toguro
was a major antagonist during the Dark Tournament and the Chapter Black Sagas, as well as a minor one at the end of the Spirit Detective saga, making him the longest running villain of the series. Along with his younger brother, he plays the role of leader of the Apparition Gang, he is a member of Team Toguro, and a vital member of Sensui's crew. In the Filipino Dub, Younger Toguro or simply Taguro calls him "Kuya" (Big Brother) as Younger Toguro's name is simply Taguro. In some cases he is also called Dan Kevin. He is voiced by Katsumi Suzuki in Japanese and by Bill Townsley in the English FUNimation dub. Appearance The elder Toguro has a somewhat elderly and bedraggled Northern European-like appearance, contrasting with his younger brother's Southern European appearance. He has long, unkempt, gray hair parted down the middle of his head, long, pointy finger nails, and wears a dark blue long-sleeved button-up shirt with matching pants and black leathery dress shoes. His skin is also extremely pale. He is significantly smaller than his brother, who is more than twice his size, and is initially seen perched on his younger brother's shoulders''Yu Yu Hakusho'', episode 22.. While he is diminutive in both versions, his size is considerably different in the manga and anime. In the anime, his height, though small, is within the realm of human norms. In the manga, however, he is much more diminutive; his size is more comparable to a small animal than a human. Given that Toguro is a shape-shifter with full control over his body, he occasionally twists the inside of his body, moving various organs to unusual areas, such as his heart onto his hands. Toguro could manipulate his body to such an extent that his hand could become a dummy for his full body. Toguro could even take on the form of inanimate objects, whether it was a limb or his entire body, and on one occasion, he displayed the ability of replicating the appearance of other people, namely Genkai, during his fight against Kuwabara. When he was human, Toguro wears a dark gray martial arts gi with a black long sleeve undershirt, a matching dark gray martial arts pants which it was tucked into his gi and brown martial arts shoes. Personality It was implied, by Younger Toguro, that Elder Toguro had a sense of honor as he dedicated his life to martial arts, but after becoming a demon, he later becomes corrupted, resulting in his warped personality. Elder Toguro differs from his younger brother in many ways. He is noticeably sadistic, gaining pleasure from torturing his opponents both physically and mentally. This is something which has been shown to bother his younger brother. He is arrogant, stating that out of the two brothers he is the brains while the Younger Toguro is the brawn. He is disrespectful, mocking Genkai after her death. Worst of all, and much to Younger Toguro's displeasure, he has no sense of honor and has been shown to use dishonest tactics when fighting. He is also noted as saying that he enjoys breaking promises, unlike his brother. Like all of his team, he enjoys fighting, as seen when he stepped up to fight Hiei, but was interrupted by Bui. He has some respect for his brother, as he is visibly upset when Younger Toguro decided to turn on him after his disgusting insult to Genkai (or how in the manga and Japanese version his suggestion to help his brother cheat in his match against Yusuke despite that Younger Toguro wished to fight Yusuke alone honorably). Regardless, both brothers shared common interests, as both chose to become demons that never grew old, completely followed the orders of their contractor, allowed Bui and Karasu to join their team, knowing that they were planning their vengeance, and harboring feelings for Genkai. However, Elder Toguro merely had a sexual attraction to her during her youth, as opposed to Younger Toguro's deep respect for her as a fighter and as a person. Synopsis History Fifty years before the start of the series, Elder Toguro, alongside with Younger Toguro and Genkai, had built a dojo together, where they trained a large number of pupils. This mutual ambition was devastated after the demon Kairen broke into the dojo, killing all of their students within a single night. After Kairen's attack, Toguro's younger brother had disappeared for three months, but afterwards showed up in order to fight alongside his older brother and Genkai in the Dark Tournament. After winning and becoming champions of the tournament, the two siblings wished to become demons so as to never grow old and to continuously train their powers. Some time in between the fifty years of the last and next tournament, the Toguro Brothers defeated Bui and Karasu, and forced them to join Team Toguro with the condition that they could train until they were strong enough to exact their revenge. Until that day dawned, they would do what was ordered of them. Both siblings had eventually ended up working for Sakyo. Spirit Detective Saga Elder Toguro first appeared with his brother under contract to the crime boss Tarukane. They were the leaders of the demon mercenary group the Apparition Gang. Tarukane assigned them to get the ice maiden Yukina to cry, in order to extract the valuable gemstones that morphed out of her tears. Noticing that physical torture was useless, as Yukina had gotten used to it, Elder Toguro murdered a couple of birds that had been visiting the ice maiden's room. Unable to save their lives, Yukina begins crying and as such, the sibling, along with Tarukane, leave her room with the stones they had obtained. Both siblings later view the attack on Tarukane's mansion, studying their adversaries as they make they way inside. After defeating most of the Apparition Gang and then their elite unit, the Triad, both Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara are forced to fight against Younger Toguro and his older brother. Elder Toguro took up the shape of a sword and a shield for his brother, but Kuwabara still manages to launch his sword into the younger sibling's stomach. As the fight is over, and the Black Black Club members stop their transmission, Younger Toguro reveals that he was still alive and Elder Toguro turns back into his normal form. They were secretly working undercover for Sakyo, as a means of forcing Tarukane into gambling away his entire fortune on the Toguro Brothers's victory. Dark Tournament Saga Elder Toguro makes minor appearances along side his brother throughout the tournament, though he never spoke. He was first seen fighting against the Gorenja Team in the semifinals. As three of Gorenja's team members all attack Toguro at once, the latter impales them without even moving the slightest bit. He killed Momorenjya, and told the remaining two members to beg for their lives. Aorenjya begged for his life but Toguro killed him anyway. Afterwards Akarenjya said that he would rather die then beg for his life, and Elder Toguro tells Akarenjya that Younger Toguro would probably like to recruit him to the team, but Elder Toguro killed him regardless saying that Younger Toguro isn't here. Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 51. He is also seen at a nearby entrance alongside Karasu during his Brother's match against the Spirit Warriors. In the Final Round, he fought against Kazuma Kuwabara. Elder Toguro had the advantage from the beginning, managing to outsmart Kuwabara and almost kill him quite a few times.Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 59. It was only with the help of the Sword of Trials that Kuwabara won, shaping it into a fly swatter to flatten Elder Toguro completely.Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 60. It is later revealed at the start of Yusuke's fight against Younger Toguro, that the elder sibling had survived his last match, as he liquified his entire body in order to escape certain death. Regardless, Kuwabara had still won the previous match. Still alive, Elder Toguro offered his brother the chance to use him as a weapon, but Younger Toguro, apparently upset at the way his older brother had previously, disgustingly insulted Genkai and how she died, refused his offer and, literally, kicked Elder Toguro off into the sky. Elder Toguro became mad at his younger brother from kicking him out as he attempted to attack him from behind. Younger Toguro heavily knocks him through the island with one heavy punch. (In the Japanese version it is due to Younger Toguro being angry that his brother suggested they try to cheat, with Younger Toguro pointing out that he never had forsaken his honor when they sold their souls to became demons)Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 60. Chapter Black Saga At the beginning of the saga, Elder Toguro is seen emerging from the rubble of the destroyed Dark Tournament Stadium. He then says, "D-damn you brother, how long have I been away" as Shinobu Sensui is seen walking towards him. Initially helpless, blown apart into pieces, Elder Toguro had bided his time recovering after his near fatal injuries and had emanated a certain spiritual frequency which powerful and evil demons could only attune, hoping to find aid and work himself back up after his defeat. Sensui gathered seven psychics to help him annihilate the humans, one of them being Gourmet. While it was initially believed that Sensui had betrayed Toguro, having Gourmet swallow him, it was revealed to be part of their plan, and Toguro managed to take over Gourmet's body. After Kurama split Gourmet's head in half, Toguro's head burrowed out. Due to not knowing how far his regeneration power could go, even if his heart or brain was damaged, Kurama used the Sinning Tree (or Tree of Depravity) to forever keep Elder Toguro in constant pain, locked within a hallucination of his worst nightmare (or being kept in an eternal showdown against Kurama). As Kurama put it, 'rogues like you deserve to be damned', so would Elder Toguro be locked in his own personal hell forever - eternal madness (or "deserving of a fate worse than death"). Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 84. Techniques/Moves * Shapeshifting Combat (武体, Bu-Tai, translated as Weapon Body): Toguro has the unique ability of manipulating the anatomy and physiology of his body. He usually elongates his finger(s), which can be used to grab, or stab, his opponent. He can also transform any part of his body into an edged weapon. He can even transform his entire body into a specific weapon, such as a sword or a shield for his younger brother to wield in combat (in the English dub, he claims to be able to transform into a machine gun). Additionally, he is able to freely relocate any of his internal and external organs around and inside his body, being able to avoid a lethal blow to his body, which made killing him virtually impossible.Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 59. He could even liquefy his body if he wanted to. ** Elasticity: Elder Toguro demonstrated the ability to extend his fingers to attack or grab something as part of his shapeshifting ability. * Immortality: A related ability to his shapeshifting is his extraordinary regenerative abilities which renders him essentially immortal. Originally, Toguro could only recreate lesser important body parts such as muscle and skin tissue. But after receiving a mortal blow from his younger sibling, Toguro was able to survive the impact, slowly regenerating a deformed head and parts of his right arm. Later on, he develops an advanced regeneration skill which allowed him to repair and even reconstruct major internal organs such as his brain and heart. This power, however, turned to be his downfall, as he would keep regenerating while trapped in Kurama's Sinning Tree, suffering an illusion for all eternity, unable to die; this meant that the regeneration occurs involuntarily. ** Regeneration: As part of his immortality Elder Toguro can heal from any injury or wound such as when Kuwabara cut him apart during the Dark Tournament. ** Healing: As part of his innate regenerative abilities, Elder Toguro could heal completely from any wounds, no matter their quantity, size and profusion. * Possession: Though not like Raizen, Elder Toguro has shown the ability to possess someone as when Gourmet ate him in an attempt to gain Toguro's powers. * Power Absorption: After Gourmet's failed attempt to consume him, Toguro survives the assimilation, burrowed deep inside the man, gaining control of his body and powers.Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 84. :* Telepathy: Prior to his demise, Gourmet had appropriated Murota's ability to read the thoughts of others - though this ability was limited as he was not able read Kurama’s mind when the normally collected fighter was blinded by rage. The Sinning Tree’s Illusions permanently negated this ability, as Toguro’s own mind was trapped in an endless nightmare.Yu Yu Hakusho, episode 84. Trivia * Elder Toguro debuts in the last part of the Spirit Detective Arc, goes through the whole Dark Tournament Arc and until near the end of the Chapter Black Arc, making him the longest lasting antagonist in the series. * In the anime, Elder Toguro is one of only two major antagonists (the other one being Rando) in the entire series who is effectively defeated but not killed - excluding antagonists who reformed such as Hiei, Suzuki, Yomi etc. * Elder Toguro's name literally translates to "Snake Coiling". * Though Elder Toguro was arrogant because of his immortality, it ultimately backfired on him when he was caught in Kurama's Sinning Tree technique. * His JA Voice Actor Katsumi Suzuki is known for voicing as Diddy Kong in the Donkey Kong series and Mario series * Since the Sensui Seven each represent the seven deadly sins, Elder Toguro (the newest member) represents Greed, reflecting on his past deeds, including the belief that he has no need for a sense of honor because he is demon, not feeling any regret for what he does as long as he gets absolute pleasure from bloodlust and sadism, thus resulting in his downfall with Kurama. * Ironically, both Toguro brothers's final fates would end up very similar, that of eternal suffering: the Younger Toguro volunteered to go to Hell (Limbo in the FUNimation English dub) where he would be tortured until his soul ceased to exist, while the Elder was imprisoned in Kurama's Sinning Tree, where he would spend the rest of eternity in a hallucination of his own personal suffering. * Two characters of Togashi's second hit manga series, ''Hunter X Hunter'', bear small but noticeable resemblances to Elder Toguro: :#'Menthuthuyoupi', a minor antagonist of the series, is a chilling figure, nearly always portrayed with a sinister grin on his face, and bares a similar body manipulation ability, being able to grow any sort of organ anywhere on his body. :#'Ikalgo', another minor antagonist who later became an ally of the main protagonists, could possess dead bodies by crawling inside them. While possessing the bodies, Ikalgo had access to all of the corpse's former abilities and could release his own arms outside the body. * Elder Toguro is also very similar to ''Naruto'' character Hidan because of their sadistic personalities, uncontrolled lust for blood in fighting, foul-mouthed natures and immortality - the latter factor being turned into their own demise. * Another videogame character very similar to Elder Toguro is SNK's Garou: Mark of the Wolves villain Freeman: both are sadistic, bloodlust killers with complete disregard for others's lives, monstrous personalities, pale skin (though Freeman's is actually dyed instead of having demonic origin such as Toguro's), long unkempt hair, and slashing hands ability comprising their martial arts. * It is implied that Elder Toguro, along with Itsuki and Tsukihito Amanuma were the only members of the Sensui Seven not to be shown Chapter Black, instead he followed Sensui due to their mutual desire to open the portal to demon world as well as get revenge on Yusuke and his team. *Being the older of the Toguro brothers, He would be at least 71 years of age. References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Demons Category:Male Characters Category:Sensui Seven Category:Upper B-Class Demons Category:Villains